# Chapter 2: The Holy Empress's Teachings
After Mo Yu finished arranging the dishes, she filled her own bowl with rice and sat down across from Xu Yourong.
The two exchanged a glance and smiled faintly.
Such a strange scene would have been absolutely unbearable for Chen Changsheng or Tang Thirty-Six, but they had long since grown accustomed to it.
Just like many years ago, when Her Majesty dined, she was very serious, forbidding anyone from speaking, allowing only communication through eye contact.
Xu Yourong and Mo Yu had exchanged countless glances over the years, and their tacit understanding was such that they could easily discern what the other was thinking.
Only back then, the content of their exchanges was usually about which dish was delicious today, which was not, whether Her Majesty seemed to be in a good mood, how many times she had picked up the swallow's tongue, whether Her Majesty's threat last night to strip the Prime Minister of his position was serious—otherwise why would she be so gloomy today that she couldn't even drink her favorite green silk soup. But today, they were communicating about something else entirely.
Mo Yu looked at her and blinked, which was her way of asking what Xu Yourong truly thought about Chen Changsheng and that marriage contract.
Xu Yourong's eyelashes drooped slightly, ignoring the question, but her fingers shifted the position of her chopsticks forward a bit.
Mo Yu noticed this detail and began to sympathize with Chen Changsheng.
She remembered very clearly that when little Xu Yourong was unhappy, she would unconsciously grip her chopsticks tighter, and thus would hold them further forward. One year, she saw young Xu Yourong holding her chopsticks like that, and that very afternoon, more than a dozen non-venomous snakes appeared in the palace where Ping Guo lived, and that very night, Ping Guo's face was painted like a theatrical mask...
...
...
The eunuchs and palace maids kept their distance outside the hall, unsurprised by the scene inside, their expressions unchanged.
There were not many people qualified to dine at the same table as Her Majesty the Holy Empress, and Xu Yourong was one of them.
This had nothing to do with her current status as the Southern Saintess. From a very young age, Her Majesty would often summon her to the palace and dine together. Back then, besides Xu Yourong, there were also Mo Yu, Princess Ping Guo, and Prince Chen Liu. Later, after Prince Chen Liu turned sixteen, he rarely stayed overnight in the palace and dined with Her Majesty less frequently. As for Princess Ping Guo... it was said she had gone to burn incense at the Western Hill Temple outside the city tonight. Everyone understood that the princess was avoiding Xu Yourong, whom she had envied and resented for so many years, and had thus removed herself from the situation.
After lunch, Mo Yu remained in the hall to handle documents, while the Holy Empress rose and said to Xu Yourong, "Come with me."
Xu Yourong followed her, all the way to the highest point in the capital.
Standing on the Sweet Dew Terrace, gazing at the markets and streets of the capital, looking at the distant Mausoleum of Books, Xu Yourong recalled scenes of playing here as a child, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.
"This is the first time you've smiled today."
The Holy Empress stood with her hands behind her back at the edge of the Sweet Dew Terrace, not turning around.
Xu Yourong restrained her smile, walked behind her, and said slowly, "Pressure has come suddenly, and I don't know how to deal with it."
Naturally, this referred to her succession as the Southern Saintess.
The Holy Empress said, "So-called Saintess is nothing more than a statue. With your comprehension and ability, what's so difficult about it?"
Xu Yourong knew this had always been Her Majesty's view of the position of Southern Saintess, something impossible to change. She smiled and said nothing.
"I do have some idea where your pressure comes from." The Holy Empress turned to face her, thinking of the scenes from the Zhou Garden she had seen reflected on the Cold Palace pond that night, and looked at her with a half-smile. "The word 'love' is the most harmful thing. If you can avoid it, you should."
Xu Yourong was slightly startled, feeling that Her Majesty seemed to have seen through something, but... that matter couldn't possibly be known to anyone, not even he... didn't he still not know?
The Holy Empress did not continue this topic. Her gaze passed over Xu Yourong's shoulder, landing on the distant mountain peaks in the south that were gradually being covered by snow, and asked, "Before she left, did she have anything to say to me?"
Xu Yourong said calmly, "Master said she hopes Your Majesty will not worry too much about state affairs and live more of your own life."
The Holy Empress was displeased upon hearing this, her voice turning slightly cold. "How foolish."
Since it involved her own teacher, Xu Yourong, though somewhat helpless, felt compelled to defend her a little.
The Holy Empress said, "Think back to those days. The Great Princess of the Western Continent was too outstanding, and as a result, her own younger brother grew jealous and even fearful of her. That waste would eventually faint just from looking at her. In the end, she had no choice, and partly because of her parents' attitude, she grew somewhat disheartened and married far away to White Emperor City... Now it seems, your master is just as foolish as she was."
Xu Yourong quietly thought to herself, whether the Great Princess becoming Queen of the Western Continent or becoming Empress of White Emperor City would bring her more happiness—who could say for sure except herself?
"It's not easy for women to survive in this world. It's even harder to carve out a position for oneself. To stand at the highest place like us is an extraordinarily difficult thing. Let's not mention that idiot Infinite Green, but your master's talent, comprehension, and wisdom are truly one in ten thousand. I thought she would be different from those other foolish women. And what happened? How could such a clever woman not get past the barrier of love?"
The Holy Empress's expression turned exceptionally cold. "What does 'living one's own life' even mean? Why should women only be allowed to 'live their lives'?"
Xu Yourong thought of something that had happened before she came and said softly, "Master Su said that Your Majesty would definitely say that, even the wording wouldn't differ much."
The Holy Empress raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? And what did Little Su say?"
In the current world, among those powerful figures who had stepped into the sacred realm, Su Li and the Southern Saintess were half a generation younger than the Pope and the Holy Empress. Because of their complicated attitude toward Su Li, all the saints except the Southern Saintess referred to him as "Little Su." It seemed only this way could they express their somewhat irritated feelings toward Su Li.
Because in their eyes, Su Li was nothing but trouble.
"Master Su asked me to tell Your Majesty..." Xu Yourong glanced at her and continued, "Being a solitary ruler isn't easy, so why force yourself to endure it?"
Hearing Su Li's message, the Holy Empress was silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed. Her laughter was filled with openness and disdain.
"Your Majesty, please don't blame Master. The fact that she could persuade Master Su to wander the four seas with her is already no small feat."
Since last autumn, whether it was the Great Zhou dynasty or the various forces in the southern lands, they had all been making relevant preparations, as if it had been confirmed that the unification of north and south was inevitable. At the time, many people didn't understand, including high-ranking figures like Xue Xingchuan, who knew it was happening but couldn't fathom why—when clearly Su Li was still on Li Mountain, why did the saints promoting this matter never consider his attitude at all?
It turned out, it was because the Southern Saintess had persuaded Su Li to stay away from the grudges and disputes of the mundane world and no longer concern himself with these matters.
The Holy Empress said the Southern Saintess couldn't get past the barrier of love, but in truth, Su Li couldn't either.
That word "love" was the bond, the prerequisite for the unification of north and south.
The Holy Empress's words were extremely harsh and sarcastic, because she was moved by emotion. "Your master spent the best years of her life withering away in the Saintess Peak, while he was out there eating, drinking, and enjoying himself all those years. He found a demon princess as a lover, even had a daughter with her, missed out on nothing. And when he got bored of playing, he turned back to find her, and then they watch the sunset together and talk about how beautiful it is? They say governing a country is like playing chess. Even if it were, I wouldn't trade pieces with an enemy like this, because it's not worth it."
In this world, there were only two women who could communicate with her on an equal intellectual level. Now one of them was gone, and for a reason she found most unacceptable—a man.
Xu Yourong did not respond, because it involved her elders, and also because... sometimes she actually thought that way.
"She just left like that, leaving you, a young girl, behind. Isn't she worried?"
The Holy Empress looked at Xu Yourong, raising an eyebrow slightly. "In the end, I still have to worry about it. Truly, being with a man makes one stupid, but when it comes to dealing with me, she's cleverer than anyone."
Xu Yourong smiled and said, "Anyway, I was raised by Your Majesty. It wouldn't hurt for Your Majesty to teach me a few more years."
"It's not teaching; it's exchange."
The Holy Empress looked at her and nodded. This was a gesture of courtesy.
Xu Yourong was very surprised, then quickly calmed down and returned the courtesy seriously.
She was not a saint, but she was already the Southern Saintess.
From this moment on, she and Her Majesty would have to speak as equals, even if only on the surface.
"Since you are the Southern Saintess, you must think more for the southerners. That is your foundation, even if... in the future, you need to oppose me."
"Understood."
"As I said at the very beginning, men cannot bear to see us standing high above. That's why your master's predecessors, for several generations of Saintesses, rarely left the Southern Stream Retreat. On the surface, they were studying the Heavenly Book Monuments, forgetting the mortal world. In reality, they also understood that they should maintain their presence but not make it too strong. If you don't want to become a mere statue, you cannot do that."
"Then what should I do?"
"Men don't like us standing high above, so we must stand high above, and we must step on them until they can't speak, until they dare not oppose even if they want to."
The Holy Empress said expressionlessly.
Xu Yourong knew that this seemingly simple and crude statement was Her Majesty's will, a reminder for her future life as a Saintess, but... even more so, it was a requirement for the upcoming battle.
She could not lose to Chen Changsheng.
...
...
Chen Changsheng sat by the lake of the National Academy, dazed.
The white crane stood beside him, also dazed.
Fine snow fell from the sky, landing on the white crane, adding to its holiness, and landing on him, as if turning his hair white with sorrow.
"What to do?" He looked at the white crane with a worried expression. "If there's really no way to avoid it, and I have to fight her, how do I fight?"
The white crane tilted its head slightly, looking at him, as if saying, this kind of thing you should ask her, not me.
He thought for a long time, then finally whispered to himself, "If it really comes to it, then... lose to her?"
...
...
In the light snow, Xu Yourong walked through the streets and alleys of the capital holding an umbrella.
No disciple of the Southern Stream Retreat was by her side, nor any clergy from the Li Palace or guards from the imperial palace. She walked alone.
For some reason, she had not changed her appearance today. Her beauty was as pure as a fairy's, yet she did not attract anyone's gaze, nor was her identity discovered.
The people in the street-side eateries, the laborers squatting on doorsteps eating noodles—none of them seemed to see her beneath the umbrella.
Perhaps it was because the umbrella in her hand was not ordinary—it looked somewhat old, gray and plain. It was that very yellow paper umbrella.